the fresh films reviews

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Deadly Illusions (2021)

Director:
Anna Elizabeth James

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Psychological thriller

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Deadly Illusions

RUNNING TIME
114 minutes

Producer:
Kristin Davis
Greer Grammer
Shanola Hampton
Anna Elizabeth James

Screenwriter:
Anna Elizabeth James


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Mary Morrison Kristin Davis ½
Tom Morrison Dermot Mulroney
Elaine Shanola Hampton
Grace Greer Grammer ½

 

Review

This genre-bound film is so caught up in the 1990s erotic thriller subgenre that even its supposed surprises become unsurprising. It's about a famed crime writer who in a bid to end her writer's block hires a nanny who seems too good to be true. And you know what they say about those? (That is, things that are too good to be true, not nannies.) I suspect filmmaker Anna Elizabeth James, who both wrote, directed and co-produced, intended for her film to be playful and not take itself too seriously, but she fails at that, largely because there are no shifts in tone in here. She demonstrates a lack of craftsmanship when scenes of singing lullabies for the kids are soaked in the same ominous, quasi-erotic mood as a kitchen-counter seduction. Kristin Davis tries to play her part straight – which works only when the director once in a while lets her exist in a believable world. With Delmot Mulroney as the husband, and Greer Grammer (Kelsey's daughter) as the nanny. She clearly cannot identify with her character's psyche, so she compensates by overdoing it.

Copyright © 21.03.2021 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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